 |
| source: dftours.com.au |
Socks, jocks and deodorant, the Christmas present cliché
were, for me an unfortunate reality. As children my family had stockings about
the size of a wellington boot. These were not for the actual gifts from Santa
but more little knickknacks to keep us busy and relatively quiet until the
grandparents woke up.
Somewhere along the line, the matchbox car, hand held ball
bearing game, colouring book and nougat bar morphed into sock, jocks, deodorant
and a nougat bar. We do not particularly like nougat and never have it at any
other time of the year. It is not even mentioned, but every year there it is in
the stocking.
I would like to think that the socks jocks and deodorant
were in the stocking ironically, however I am not sure that there was that much
though involved.
As children the only thing worse as a Christmas present was
school stationery or uniform. Coloured pencils, crayons and textas in
themselves can be a fun gift for children but not if they have to be put away
until school starts. Particularly in Australia where there are 6 weeks summer
holiday sitting around the house between Christmas and the start of the school
year. Though the wait to colour still better than unwrapping and exercise book.
As adults, deodorants, soaps and body washes anything that
says “you have a body odour problem” is a disappointing and somewhat insulting
gift. They are also as equally thoughtless as socks and jocks.
If it is the thought that counts then a generic gift voucher
for a department store is not a gift from someone who cares about you. This
gift really says “I have no idea what to get you or what you like – you sort it
out.” Gift vouchers for specific experiences or products can be extremely
thoughtful.
The person likes outdoor adrenalin activities then a gift
for abseiling through a waterfall is very thoughtful and personalised, the
voucher simply allows the person to book in on a day that suits their calendar.
Similarly a book of pre-paid cinema tickets for a movie buff. A voucher for the
local CD/DVD store is a little bit thoughtful…but not very thoughtful.
This voucher says I know you like music but don’t care
enough to know which bands/styles of music you like nor could I be bothered to
find out which CDs you are looking forward to owning.
I understand with digital downloading that this has become
problematic without vouchers.
Vouchers or tickets to a live show are convenient and cheap
to post when the gift giver and receiver are geographically distant from each
other.
One year my dad bought me a voucher for an item bought on my
behalf for a third world country. A thoughtful gift. That should have been
enough. It could have been for a well, digging a latrine or a bag of seeds. Dad
went one step further. I was going through a cow collecting phase, anything
with the black and white Friesian print was acceptable. Dad bought a cow for a
village. Dad bought me a cow for Christmas. A VERY thoughtful gift voucher.
Christmas gift giving should be about the thought not the
monetary value. The hardest gift shopping is when you walk through the stores
with no idea of what you will buy, just waiting for the right gift to jump out
at you. Although this can be a tiring and frustrating experience for the
purchaser it will always be a rewarding for the receiver. This experience far
outweighs the challenges of crowded shopping malls and long lines at checkouts.
For unique gift ideas visit www.dftours.com.au/gifts
